Major blow for Congress: Former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan Joins BJP!

On February 13–13, Mr. Chavan resigned from the Congress party yesterday. His close aide, Amar Rajulkar, who resigned as MLC yesterday, also joined the BJP today. The former chief minister said he was not asking anyone to change the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr. Chavan will file his candidature for the Rajya Sabha elections tomorrow. In fact, he joined the party early because the deadline for applying for recognition for the House of Councilors election was approaching. He had previously told the media that he would decide to join the party within the next few days.

He was invited to the party by Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devandra Fadnavis, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Chandrashekhar Bawankul, and Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party President Ashish Shelar.

Addressing the media, Fadnavis said that any decision regarding Mr. Chavan’s nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections would be taken by the party’s central leadership. He also said the party knows how to utilize senior leaders.

Ashok Chavan, the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarao Chavan, has great influence in the Nanded region. His resignation comes at a time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi faction, comprising the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, the NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction, and the Congress, faces two major electoral challenges.

Mr. Chavan has held important positions in Congress, including Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and member of the Congress Working Committee. He was twice a member of the Nanded Assembly seat and served in both houses of the State Legislature.

After serving as a state minister, he was elected chief minister following the resignation of Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The Congress kept him in the top post even after the 2009 state polls.